"Since I joined the Department of Agriculture in February, we've preserved nearly 13,000 acres of farmland across the state," said Agriculture Secretary George Greig. "Pennsylvania's farm families realize the importance of agriculture not only as our state's number one industry – the cornerstone of our economy – but as a way of life for our farm families. I thank these producers for enabling a new generation of agriculturalists to keep Pennsylvania growing far into the future."

Pennsylvania's farmland preservation efforts work through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Conservation Easement Purchase Program, which was developed in 1988 to help slow the loss of prime farmland to non-agricultural uses. It enables state, county and local governments to purchase conservation easements, also called development rights, from owners of quality farmland.

During the program's 23-year history, state, county and local governments have invested more than $1 billion to safeguard 457,537 acres on 4,229 farms.